Universal pedal extension

ABSTRACT

A PEDAL EXTENSION FOR INCREASING THE HEIGHT OF A CONVENTIONAL FOOT PEDAL, SUCH AS THE BRAKE PEDAL OF AN AUTOMOBILE, HAS AN EXTENSION PLATE SUPPORTED BY FOUR INVERTED L-SHAPED, THREADED LEGS, THE ENDS OF THE LEGS BEING CLAMPED ON THE BRAKE PEDAL BY TWO PAIRS OF CLAMP BARS. THE LEGS PIVOT FLATWISE FOR SHIPMENT AND ARE ADJUSTABLE BOTH LATERALLY AND LONGITUDINALLY, WHEN ERECTED, TO FIT AROUND FOOT PEDALS OF ANY CONFIGURATION AND BE PERMAMENTLY CLAMPED THEREON.

Dec. 14, 1971 w Ross 3,626,785

UNIVERSAL PEDAL EXTENSION Filed Aug. 21. 1970 70km 68 a 1mm L mining 3 39 3e 9 -ooooo o r.- INVENTOR. 6| *-Q ,g O O 9 JOHN w. ROSS BY 47 'F, 5 49 p *PW 137- 4 ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,626,785 UNIVERSAL PEDAL EXTENSION John W. Ross, 109 North St., Georgetown, Mass. 01830 Filed Aug. 21, 1970, Ser. No. 65,923 Int. Cl. G05g 1/16 US. Cl. 74-562 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pedal extension for increasing the height of a conventional foot pedal, such as the brake pedal of an automobile, has an extension plate supported by four inverted L-shaped, threaded legs, the ends of the legs being clamped on the brake pedal by two pairs of clamp bars. The legs pivot flatwise for shipment and are adjustable both laterally and longitudinally, when erected, to fit around foot pedals of any configuration and be permanently clamped thereon.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The provision of means to increase, or vary, the height of one object relative to the other has long been an object in many fields typified by the piano stool, which accomplishes the purpose with a threaded central post and threaded socket. Scissors type tables are used in the material-handling art to raise and lower loads, and automobile lifts have used chain hoists, ramps, hydraulic pistons, and many other mechanical expedients.

However, few of the above solutions are practical, or economically sound, for the purpose of providing a simple, rugged extension which will be inexpensive enough to be purchased by a short person, or to be given away by a dealer, thereby permitting the short person to reach and operate the pedals of a new car.

It has heretofore been proposed, as in Us. Pat. 1,128,- 975, to Harrington, of Feb. 16, 1915, and US. Pat. 1,293,- 101 to Hughes of Feb. 4, 1919, to provide a single central post type pedal extension, adjustable by telescoping, or the like, and detachably clamped on the foot pedal by C- clamp, or roller-skate clamp, mechanism. The fixed, nonextensible openings of the clamp jaws, and the modern type of depending foot pedal make such devices somewhat obsolete and most difficult to attach and they do not collapse fiatwise for shipment.

Another type foot pedal extension is exemplified in US. Pat. 2,028,073 to Lampert of Jan. 14, 1936, and U.S. Pat. 1,858,809 to Ritz-Woller of May 17, 1932, wherein roller skate type clamps are mounted under a relatively thick pad and there is no provision at all for increasing or decreasing height of the pad.

Still another type pedal extension is disclosed in US. Pat. 1,671,169 to Swain of May 29, 1928, wherein an accelerator pedal is provided with a pantagraph type extension, wherein the legs are normally upstanding to accommodate a short legged person, but may be unlocked and pivotally collapsed downwardly for a longer legged person. In this device a single central forward and rearward leg is each pivoted at top and bottom integrally with the accelerator pedal and foot rest and there is no lateral, longitudinal or vertical adjustability of the parts to fit persons of different lengths of leg.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The pedal extension unit of this invention is made of few parts, which can be shipped, and stored, fiatwise, in a thin compact package approximately the dimensions of the extension plate itself. It consists of an apertured plate to which a pair of blocks may be attached at the desired distance apart and which include sockets for two pairs of threaded, inverted -L-shaped legs. When the legs are socketed, erected and laterally spaced apart, in the blocks which have been longitudinally spaced apart, to fit around a foot pedal of any shape, the pairs of clamp bars are slid onto the legs and tightened on each end of the foot pedal to permanently hold the plate at the desired height while preventing pivotal collapse of the legs and unit.

The height of the extension plate is thus adjusted by the threaded nuts on the threaded legs, while the nuts also hold the legs in the clamp bars in position normal to the foot pedal but tightly fitting therearound.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 'FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the interior of an automobile showing the extension unit firmly and noncollapsibly anchored on the brake pedal;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation;

FIG. Sis a bottom plan view of the extension unit of the invention, and

FIG. 6 shows the device folded flatwise for shipment.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in FIG. 1, one of the many foot pedals used on machines in various arts is the foot brake pedal 20, of a typical modern automobile 21, which may also have an accelerator pedal 22, or a clutch pedal, parking brake pedal, etc., not shown.

The foot pedal 20 is usually fixed at the end of a lever arm 23, which extends upwardly and rearwardly therefrom. It is well known that the configuration, thickness, rim shapes, and pedal arm attachments vary with each make of automobile, so that any device intended to be firmly attached thereto must be capable of substantial adjustment for fitting, regardless of shape, and must not be likely to fall off or become displaced just when necessary to be used in an emergency.

The extension unit 25 of the invention includes the extension plate means 26, which is preferably a rectangular plate 27, of predetermined area, or configuration, to conform to the general shape and area of the foot pedal with which it is to be used. For example, a plate about two inches laterally and about six inches longitudinally has been found to be a desirable size fitting well on most foot pedals of most vehicles. While plate 27 could be of suflicient thickness of metal, plastic, or the like, to permit a plurality of laterally extending, oppositely disposed, sockets to be bored, or tapped, therein from each side edge 28 to the other side edge 29, it is preferred that plate 27 be relatively thin, such as about one-eighth of an inch, and that the leg socket means 31 be attached to the underside 32 of the plate 27.

The plate 27 therefore includes a plurality of longitudinal-ly spaced pairs 34 of laterally spaced holes 3-5 and 36, and a pair of laterally extending blocks 37 and 38, each block being attached by machine screws 39 to a selected pair of holes, to establish the leg means 45 of the unit at the best longitudinal spacing to fit a particular foot pedal, such as 20.

Each block 37 or 38 extends laterally of the underside 32 of plate 27 and is axially bored and tapped at 41 to form leg socket means 31 therein, in the form of the oppositely disposed laterally extending leg sockets 42 and 43, each internally threaded and of circular cross section (FIG. 3).

Leg means 45 preferably is formed by four identical, inverted, L-shaped, legs, or rods, 46, 47, 48 and 49, each having an upper end 51 bent inwardly at about at 52, and having a lower end 53, the entire leg preferably having external threads 54. The ends 51 of each pair of 3 'legs 46 and 47 and 48 and 49 are thus inturned toward each other and threadedly adjustable in the sockets 42 and 43 of the blocks, thereby each supporting one of the corners of the plate. Preferably portions '59 or 60 of each leg are squared off and form a seat for the set screws 61, 62, 63, and 64, thereby enabling the legs to be firmly anchored fiat wise for shipment, as in FIG. 6, or firmly locked in erected position at the correct lateral distance apart to straddle the foot pedal with which they are used. If necessary to fit a particularly unusual configuration of foot pedal, the legs can be tightened at various angular positions by the set screws, but normally they are intended to be tightly held in position normal to the foot pedal and to the plate 27, and depending from the plate, as in FIG. 4.

Threaded clamp bar means comprising two pairs of identical clamp bars 65, 66, 67 and 68 is provided, each bar preferably of flat metal and each having apertures 70 and 71 proximate each end for slidably receiving the threaded ends 53 of the legs. Preferably the apertures 70 and 71 are elongated slots, having open ends 72, to permit the device to be fiatwise collapsed as in FIG. 6. Four pairs of threaded nuts, such as 74, are provided, one above and one below, each end of each pair of clamp bars on each leg for tightening the clamp bars on the under side and upper side of a foot pedal, while also tightening the legs in the desired lateral spacing in cooperation with the set screws 61, 62, 63 and 64.

Preferably a corrugated rubber pad 80 is adhesively secured by pressure sensitive adhesive 81, to plate 27 when the blocks 37 and 38 have been aflixed in the desired pairs of apertures.

What is claimed is: 1. An extension unit adapted to be permanently fixed at a selected height on foot pedals of various configurations, said unit comprising:

extension plate means of predetermined area and thickness, said means having a plurality of oppositely-disposed, laterally extending, leg socket means spaced longitudinally therealong for receiving leg means;

two longitudinally spaced apart pairs of oppositely disposed leg means, the legs of each pair depending downwardly from said plate means, said legs having opposite upper ends bent inwardly toward each other and movably received in one of said socket means, and having threaded lower ends, and

two pairs of flat clamp bars, each having apertures at each opposite end slidably receiving the threaded lower ends of a pair of said legs, and

four pairs of threaded nuts, each pair threaded on one of said legs, above and below one end of one of said pairs of clamp bars,

whereby said leg means are pivotable into collapsed position for shipment and storage, but are non-collapsible when said nuts are tightened to clamp said bars with a foot pedal therebetween and permanently afiix said plate means in a desired position thereabove.

2. An extension unit as specified in claim 1, wherein:

said extension plate means includes a plurality of spaced pairs of holes therealong, a pair of blocks, each aflixed under a selected pair of holes by machine screws, and an axial threaded bore in each said block constituting said leg socket means,

whereby said blocks may be aifixed at selected positions under said plate means to conform to a particular foot pedal.

3. An extension unit as specified in claim 2, plus:

a pair of set screws, each threaded in one end of each said block, and arranged to detachably affix the inturned ends of said legs at desired locations transversely of said plate means and at selected angular positions relative to a foot pedal.

4. An extension unit as specified in claim 1, wherein: each said pair of clamp bars includes a pair of open ended, elongated slots in at least one end thereof, whereby lateral adjustment of said leg means to fit various foot pedals may be made.

5. An extension unit as specified in claim 1, wherein:

said extension plate means includes at least two axially bored, laterally extending blocks, to serve as said socket means, a plurality of plate holes for afiixation of said blocks at desired locations, and a corrugated pad having an underlayer of pressure sensitive adhesive attached to said plate means to cover said holes.

6. An extension unit for foot pedals, said unit comprising:

an elongated, rectangular plate;

four legs, each mounted proximate one of the four corners of the underside of said plate for pivotable and lateral movement relative thereto, and each having a free terminal end with threads thereon, and

threaded clamp bar means extending between the threaded ends of adjacent said legs for threadly clamping the underside and upper side of a foot pedal therebetween.

7. A combination as specified in claim 6, plus:

block means, mounted on the underside of said plate and having threaded socket means for receiving the upper ends of said legs, said block means having attachment means for affixing the same at selected longitudinal positions under said plate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1928 Ross 248226 D 1/1942 Ingwer et al 248226 D U.S. Cl. X.R. 74-5 63 

